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Just wondering… Actually, not entirely sure what I am wondering…

But something close to…ARE WE GIVING OUR ALL? Walk with me to a place when we were young, a place where we were all grouped by “kids” and grouped by “adults”. Ha Ha-that was something. Our moms sent us out of doors with strict instructions to NOT come home until dinner. We were kids, we followed directions without asking questions. But we were together, we were the “kids”. It didn’t matter if you were Irish, Italian, Catholic, Black, White, Protestant. Not to forget the townies, hicks, bumpkins, motor heads, preppies … and by the way, back when I was a kid those were the minorities of the day. There were names for ALL of us. I could identify with SEVERAL of the groups that were looked down on. What the heck did I care? I identified with most all of them in some way. We made forts in the woods, we played SPUD (kickball), we stayed out until the the bats came diving, played truth or dare, we picked fights, we ran home from the bus stop because a bully was chasing us. BUT, we woke up each day and we didn’t check social media, we weren’t politically correct. I mean, we just WERE. We were kids of immigrants, we were all poor, we all had to work, barely any of us went to college and if we did, we went to the one down the street. And everyday, we gave our all… At play, at school, at life because really, there was nothing that was promised. We went to our little schools big–big attitudes, big shoulder pads, big hair. And eventually it was big brains, and not-so-big apartments and maybe big or small cities but they were all ours. Our people, our family, our jobs, our cities. We contributed and created. We have voted for 7 presidents, bought homes, started families. We gave our all. This letter is to my generation and any who read this and agree, we need to give our all for our families, for our friends close and remote, for our beautiful country… Our home. Politics and divisiveness have set us against each other. Please remember that we are all Americans, we all fear each other and revere each other. God bless our country, our home, our us. God bless us every last one.

My life now is comprised of beginnings all tangled up in endings. I don’t know exactly where one begins and the other ends. And to be perfectly honest, I am not sure anyone else actually knows what is the beginning and what is the ending either.

I am asked to lead by example for my school, my team, my younger sibling while at the same time I am asked to define and refine my “reach” and my “safety”. Future… a place I have lived in comfortably for many years now has suddenly changed from an exclamation point to a question mark. I was always happily running to the next step. Can’t wait until I am 5 years old, so I can ride the big yellow bus. Can’t wait until I lose my first tooth. Can’t wait until I ride a two-wheeler by myself. Can’t wait until I am 13, then I will be a teenager. Can’t wait until I am 16, so I can drive whenever and wherever I want. Can’t wait to be a senior, so I can rule the school. So many days that I crossed off the calendar with exclamation points!

Ask me anything about where I am now and I have all of the answers. Things I did not know four years ago are like second nature to me. I navigate my school hallways with ease. Ask me questions about where I am going and I give stock answers. I am unsure and the truth is, I really don’t know. Now, I find I am in the middle place, kind of stuck between winning the race but being held at the start line because it is not yet my turn.

Instead of asking me questions about where I am going to college or my senior quote, senior picture, senior field trip, senior lunch, senior shampoo, please be patient with me while I try and figure it out. Smile at me and don’t forget to tell me when I have done a good job today, because today really matters in my world. Today is where I live. Today is where I love. Today is where I meet up with my friends and laugh. Today is where I look over to you to see if you saw what I just did out there. Today is where I smile and share and stress and try and cry. Today, for me, is all I’ve got. Tomorrow is coming. I know it is there. Please do not feel like you need to be constantly reminding me to plan for tomorrow. Believe me, it is like the big bad wolf and the best birthday present at the same time, all wrapped up in one! My future waits for me but my present is who I am. It becomes who I become. While I am running to my next place, please help me enjoy the moments in between. The wake ups at home, the homecoming weeks, the victories with my teams, staying up late with my sister solving the world’s problems, the tests, the trials, the silly laughter, the A’s and the F’s, the smell of your cooking, my dog’s excitement when I walk in the room, seeing you in my mirror saying “be safe” as I leave the driveway. These are the things that are making me “me”. The me I have come to be is not only so special to you, but I am special to me because of all of those small, but important things wrapped up in my present. I am excited for where I am going next. Until then, let’s love and live in the little in between times because honestly, when the date on my calendar comes and I pack my bags and set off on my own journey pursuing whatever future is knocking at my door, it is those tiny moments that I am making now that make the future me.

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Tomorrow begins Random Acts of Kindness week. Let’s RAoK around town!
Double your tip at a restaurant…
Donate old blankets to an animal shelter…
Text kind words to a friend…
Pay for the person behind you in drive-thru lane…
Compliment a stranger…
Write a thank you note to a teacher or coach…
Bake a sweet for your sweetie…
Donate blood…
Drop off flowers to your doctor, hairstylist, etc…
Smile…

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My children, let me tell you something about this mother’s love. This might be the most important thing I tell you. So, can you do me a quick favor please? Can you find a quiet space and turn off your phone and concentrate on this letter for just this minute? I’ll wait until you are ready…

Dear My Perfect Child,

I. Love. You.

It doesn’t matter if you think that you’re too tall, or too short, or too skinny, or too fat, I love you still.

It doesn’t matter if you win or if you lose, I love you still.

If you get an A+ or if you get an F-, I love you still.

It doesn’t matter if you think you aren’t fast enough or if you think you can’t jump high enough, I love you.

When you are happy, I love you. When you are sad, I love you. When you are mad, I love you.

Whether you are whispering, singing, or yelling, I am loving you.

If you go to night school, trade school or fancy college, I will be loving you still.

When your days are serious or silly or shy or shouty, I love you.

If you work on people’s hearts, or hands or homes, I love you still.

If your passion is nature or numbers or nurturing, I love you.

If you are a tinkerer or a tumbler or a tomboy, I love you.

Whether you are a writer or a runner or a rapper, I love you still.

Whenever you are wondering or worrying or wishing, I am loving you.

No matter who you love, I love you and no matter who loves you, I love you.

When you love you, I love you too.

When you don’t love you, I love you for us both.

The possibilities of your great big life are endless, as is my love for you.

There is no single moment in your life that could make me love you less, ever… ever… ever.

You see, I do not expect you to grow up be a perfect person for me to love you, because to me you have been perfect from the day you were born. A perfectly styled and crafted version of you. And I love you!

My heart carries you with me every second of everyday and in those seconds, minutes and hours of the days of your life, I love you.

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Today myself, my community and my children woke to the sad news that a bright beautiful senior at my kid’s school was killed in a car accident overnight. How? Why? Disbelief. Shock. Sadness. So much tragedy… so, so much that sometimes my heart swells up and breaks in half, no words, no breath. We are left wondering why does this happen? The soldier who comes home with only a folded flag to give a fellow soldier’s family, my best friend imprisoned in a wheelchair as her body stops working a little bit more each day, my father who got a call with results he hoped would not come this soon. All of it too soon. Why does God let it happen? I tried to get my head around it. I laced up my running shoes and set off for the trail. It is always a good place to think, reflect and pray when all of this sadness was at my heels. When I sat on the bench to get my music started I heard two old men talking about their churches. They are good friends, they are here walking often together and they worship at two different places. One man was saying his church had good music, and they agreed that the other one did not. But it did have Johnny and apparently Johnny is really good thing to have. Living in the south you come to realize that we are all believers. We don’t all go to the same church but we have the same God. We have the shared sorrows as well. We all pray. As I set off I kept thinking that we are one family of believers. On my next loop around the trail I decided to stop and ask these men to pray with me for the family that lost their daughter last night. Total strangers to me but brothers and sisters in Christ. It filled me with renewal that God never leaves us alone. We have a tremendously large family of support. His command is to love, and we need to keep that command by giving it, but also by receiving it. What do we do when we are the ones left here on earth? Imagine that each day you are given a pack of seeds. Sowing these seeds of faith could be as simple as a text to check in on someone, or driving right into a friends driveway and walking up to their door with the intention of only a hug and an offer of a shoulder to share the burden. Our sensitive hearts together make us strong. When my kids got home from school they told me about a ceremony that they had at school today in honor and memory of their fellow student. In just a few hours our community had come together remembering her, praying on bended knee for her family and released hundreds of white balloons on the football field. I am awed and honored to be a part of a community of faith and support like the one we live in. Will the path to heaven be lined with joy and jubilation when we arrive to fist bumps and high fives? I do not know but I do know that as one body in Christ, we sow the seeds until then, scattering them everyday.

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Last Sunday was International Friendship Day. This got me thinking about all of the different people in my life that I am blessed to call friend and how fortunate we all are to have friends in our lives. I mean, think about it, how in the world do friendships form, why do some of them stick for a lifetime, taking two people and making one bond? I was talking to a friend of mine today. She called me to talk about the teacher. You know the one…the one who doesn’t exactly teach to your child’s thinking…the one about who, everyone says “Get out of that class”… the one where you are thinking, do I really need to be that mom and try to switch my child’s class? So, we talked about the teacher, but then we also talked about our kids, and then we talked about our parents growing older needing a little bit more time now than then, and then we talked about how she is one step closer to making her goal, then we talked about a loved one who is ill. These are the ingredients of friendship-Encouragement, inspiration, respect, honesty, humility. When and where do the seeds of friendship begin? Maybe it is during lunch in middle school when you don’t know where to sit, then someone yells your name and points to the seat next to them. Maybe it is at the first practice at high school and you see a familiar face, they wave and say “what’s up man, glad to see you here”. Maybe its when you show up at a meeting and that one person shakes your hand and says, “I have heard a lot about you”. Maybe it is over a glass of wine, when you share a story that you had been worrying over. I am not saying it happens in that one day. Letting life happen is sometimes part of the blessing. Enjoy the process of the puzzle pieces fitting together. People who are able to open up, be true, share, speak to what is real, these are the friends I am talking about. No politics, no illusions, just the heart and soul. Haven’t we all had those friends that we meet, and in a minute you are sharing stories, laughing about a common issue, asking advice without feeling self conscious? I call those friends “sister friends” because in my life they become family. Does this sound hokey? If it doesn’t, then I know that you have the right friends in your life. We are going to be there together in the stands cheering on our kids down to the final second, at the bus stop talking an hour after the bus has already picked up, sitting on the barstool in your kitchen saying, “I’ve got to go in one minute” then staying for another half hour. I always like to think there is a bit of magic in everyday. Friends are a part of that magic. Thanks to all the sisters out there, my life is enriched by who you are-Cheers!

“A Friend Is Someone Who Does Things That Count, But Doesn’t Stop To Count Them”